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3 Sheets-Sheet. 1.

(No Model.)

l?.v A. MILLS. THREAD WAXING DEVICE EOE SHOE SEWING MACHINES.

Padznalained Dec. 24, 1895.

W/TNESSES:

ANDREW EGRMAM. PHOTO-UTNRWASHINGIDN. D

(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheen z.

P., A. MILLS.V THREAD WAXING DEVICE POR SHBA SEWING MACHINES'.

No. 551,988. Patented 1390.24.1895.

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No. 551,988. Patent-ea Dec. 24, 1995,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

FRANCIS ARTHUR MILLS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES MUNDELL, OF SAME PLAGE.

THREAD-WAXING DEVICE FOR SHOE-SEWING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,988, dated December 24, 1895.

Application filed April 17, 1895.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that 1, FRANCIS ARTHUR MILLS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wax-Pots and Thread-Waxers for Shoe-Sewing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is directed to the improvement of wax-pots and thread-waxers for shoesewing machines using waxed thread. The stripper terminates and delivers the thread stripped of surplus wax in close proximity to the tensionwheel,which, being arranged just above the needle, delivers the thread thereto in a soft and pliable condition. Provision is made for regulating the heat of the threadwaxing conduit and for passing both the heating and the waxing conduits through the steam heating-chamber of the wax-pot to obtain the full effect of the heat directly upon both conduits and causing the thread to be well saturated with the wax, the iiow of which into said conduit is facilitated by a proper vent-opening therein.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention as it is used in a machine in which the sewing mechanism is organized for operation, as shown in my patent of August 14,1894, No. 524,336; but it is obvious that my invention can be applied for use with other forms and constructions of machines. The sewing mechanism is mounted in a housing structure or head 1 iitted and supported at the front end of the supporting-frame 2, upon the rear end of which the wax-pot is mounted, while upon the top and at the front of the sewinghead is mounted the tension device. Below the tension device hangs an oscillating looper a? forming the loop-stitch, while the feed device 5, the back gage 6, and a slide-rest 7 co-operate in supporting, feeding, and sewing the shoe.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation so much of a sewingmachine as embodies my improvement in the wax-heating and thread-strippin g appliances, the wax-pot and heating-chamber being shown in vertical section taken on the line .fr of Fig. Fig. 2 shows the wax-pot, the

which cooperates with the needle 4 in the interior walls of said coupling.

Serial No. 546,131. (No model.)

water-chamber, and the heating-chamber in vertical cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same on the line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. i is atop view of 55 the Waxing and heating device. Fig. 5 shows in section the stripper device at theV delivery end of the thread-waxing conduit. Fig. G shows in section the receiving end of the thread-waxing conduit. Fig. 7 is a top view `6f of the machine. Fig. S shows the T-coupling of the heating and waxing tubes.

Three parts constitute the wax-pot-the pot 8, the water chamber 9, and the heatingchamber 10. I prefer to unite the pot and the water-chamber by lap joining at their top edges to make a steam-joint,` as shown in Fig. 2. The wax-pot is like a trough hanging in the top of the water-chamber, and the heating-chamber is open at the bottom, and with- 7o in the same a burn er 11 is suitably supported.

Between the side of the wax-pot and the wall of the water-pot and through the opposite walls of the latter passes a pipe which, by perforations 12, communicates with the 7 5 steam-space of the water-chamber, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. This pipe is preferably of two parts 13 and 14, which connect by screwjoints with a tubular T-coupling 15, the end of which projects through a hole in the wall 8o of the wax-pot, opens therein, and is secured thereto by a nut 16 and washer 17, which seals the joint, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. The screwthreads for this purpose are external on the arms of the coupling and interior on the ends of the pipe parts. The outer ends of these pipesections are closed bya screw-plug. Within this pipe is a smaller one of two parts 18 and 19, which connect the arms of the coupling by screw-joints, the threads of which are on 9o The outer ends of these interior pipes are closed by the same screw-plugs 20 which close the outer pipe parts, the' said plugs having a reduced screw-threaded part 21 for that purpose. g 5 These inner pipes communicate with the waxpot through the T-couplin g 15, and the thread 22 passes through the end plug and the inner pipe and is waxed, as seen in Fig. 3. 'The plugs 2O for this purpose have axial bores and Ioo are each provided with a perforated rubber plug 23, which serves to pack the axial bores,

and are kept properly compacted by perforated plugs 24, which areV screwethreaded within the pipe-plugs. At the thread-delivery end of the pipe the perforated rubber plug 23 serves to strip the surplus wax from the thread, and as this end of the wax-containing pipe is very near the tension-wheel the thread is thereby delivered in a hot and soft condition to the tension-wheel 25, the looper-finger, and the needle. The annular space 26 bctween the outer and inner pipes is filled with steam from the water-chamber 9, and the in" ner pipe 18 being filled with wax, which passes from the wax-pot through the T-coupling directly into'the said inner pipe, the latter is kept hot by the steam between the pipes and by the heat in the chamber, so that the waX in the pot and in the pipe is kept under a uniform heat and in condition to keep the thread well saturated as it is drawn by the tension-wheel through the wax-conduit 18. As the thread passes directly around the tension-wheel as it emerges from the thread-conduit, the tension-wheel is thereby kept under a proper degree of heat given to it by the thread. v

The pipe which incloses and heats the waxcontaining pipe has an outlet 27 for-the steam at the thread-delivering end. To prevent undue heating of the wax-containing pipe I provide the outer pipe at its thread-receiving end with an opening 28 and a sleeve or ring-valve 29. therefor, whereby in sliding the valve to uncover the opening the steam will escape and the heat of the wax may be regulated so that it does not become overheated. Both these steam escaping openings are outside of the pot. This provision for regulating the heat of the wax-containing pipe also serves to regulate the heat of the waX-pot to prevent v the boiling over of the wax and to prevent it from becoming burned and the thread from being made stiff and brittle thereby.

I make the heating and waxing pipes in sections, as stated, to allow them to be inserted through holes in the opposite walls of the heating and water chambers and screwed into the opposite end of the coupling, which, for this purpose, is iirst secured in the wall of the ware pot. The construction also allows the pipes to be so joined separately and to be readily unscrewed and withdrawn from the pot 14.

To enable the operator to tell the quantity of water in the steam-chamber I provide a glass water-gage, by which to indicate the height of the water in the chamber. This gage is open at the top and serves for supplying the water-chamber and also for emptying it by suitable valves 31, which control the comw munication of the gage with the bottom of the water-chamber.

The Water condensing from the steam in the heating-pipe runs back into the steamchamber through whichsaid pipe passes.

I have described the waxing appliance as being constructed for use with a single thread, but I have shown such appliances as being constructed for use with two separate and im dependent threads, and this is for the purpose of providing the machine with a thread suited for light work and with a thread suited for heavy work, and thereby avoid the trouble and loss of time in having to change the thread to suit the stock when the waxing appliance is constructed for a single thread. In the du pleX waxing appliance shown, the waX and heat containing pipes pass through the upper part of the water-chamber on each side of the wax-pot, and the said pipes being of identical construction pass through the opposite walls of the water and heating chambers, and each receives and delivers a thread to a tensionwheel at the front of the machine.

For each waxing and heating conduit I use va separate tension device placed side by side on the sewing-head, so that each thread is delivered to the looper and used therewith to suit the stock to be sewed, the thread not in use being held in readiness around its tensionwheel. In changing the threads therefore it is only necessary to remove one thread from the eye of the looper-finger and substitute the other, which is kept waxed and under the proper tension to suit the change in the quality of the stock. The separate balls of thread are held in proper position to supply each waxing-conduit, so that the threads having been once supplied to the waxing-tubes and to the tension devices are no further care until the balls are used up, when they are replaced by others. As shown, the pipes are supported upon the top of the machine and are covered with some material suited to retain the heat.

The passing of the waxing-pipe directly through the steam-space of the heating-chamber gives the advantage of the full benefit of the heat upon and around the waxecontaining pipe and its connection with the wax-pot. As the perforations 12 in the heating-pipe are on each side of the coupling 15,through which the wax passes from the pot to the thread conduit, the steam keeps the coupling open for the free inflow of the wax into the conduit and the wax therein in a fluid condition.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the couplings which connect the wax-conduits with the pot incline downward from the outer walls of the pot, so that the fluid wax runs from the pot down through the couplings into the thread-conduits, and it is only necessary to keep the pot supplied with sufficient wax to keep the thread-conduit filled.

To render it certain that the wax will run from the pot into the thread-conduits and keep them` filled, the latter are each provided with a vent-pipe 32, which rises through the steam-escape pipe 27, as shown in Fig. 5, and to prevent the wax overflowing through this vent-pipe it rises to a level with the top of the wax-pot, as shown in Fig. 1. The outlet in the steam-'pipe and the vent inthe wax pot are preferably located at the thread-deliverin g end of the waxing-pipe, and the plac- IOO IIO

. plugs for the thread, as set forth.

Stress ing of the wai-vent pipe within the steamescape pipe keeps the wax hot in the ventripe It is evident that immaterial changes may be permitted from the general construction and arrangement of parts contributing toward my invention, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself in precise detail and construction.

I claim as my improvement- 1. In a wax-thread sewing machine, a waxpot depending in a steam-chamber, in combination with a pipe passing horizontally through saidchamber and having perfora.- tions communicating therewith, a pipe within the perforated pipe connecting and communicating with the wax-pot, forming the waxing conduit for the thread and an annular heating space between said pipes, and perforated screw-plugs engaging and closing the ends of both pipes and rubber plugs within said screw-plugs as set forth.

2. The combination, in a wax-thread sewing machine, a wax-pot depending in a steamchamber and wax containing and heating pipes-an outer one having perforations communicating with said chamber, an inner pipe forming a waxing conduit for the thread and an annular heating space between the two pipes, a tubular T-coupling secured in the side of the pot for communication between the latter and the inner pipe, both pipes being in sections and screw-threaded for engaging the opposite tubular screw-threaded ends of said coupling, and perforated screwplugs engaging and closing the receiving and delivery ends of both pipes and rubber-plugs within said screw-plugs, as set forth.

3. In a wax thread sewing machine, the combination of a wax-pot depending in a steamchamber, with a pipe inclosing a pipe forming an annular heating space between them passing horizontally through said chamber, the outer pipe having perforations communicating with said chamber, the inner pipe communicating with the wax-pot and forming the waxing conduit, the said perforated pipe having an escape outlet for the steam on one side of said pot and a valve controlled opening on the other side of said pot, and perforated screw-plugs engaging and closing the ends of both pipes and containing rubber- 4. In a wax thread sewing machine,the combination of a wax pot depending in a steamchamber, with a conduit for heating and waxing the thread arranged to pass horizontally through the steam-chamber, consisting of a pipe inclosing a pipe forming an annular space between them, each pipe of two sections, 13, '11, 1S and 19, screw-threaded at each end, the outer pipe having perforations l 12, communicating with the steam-chamber,

a tubular T-coiipling having exterior and interior screw-threads for engaging said separate pipes and a screw threaded end nutted in an opening in the pot for communication with the inner pipe, screw-plugs adapted to engage the inner ends of both pipes and containing perforated elastic plugs for the thread, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a wax thread sewing machine, of separate and independent tension devices for two separate threads for different work, mounted above the looper at the front of the machine, a waxing and heating appliance for the threads mounted at the rear of the machine, consisting of a wax-pot depending in a steam-chamber, a heating and waxing conduit passing through said chamber on each side of said pot, each conduit formed of a pipe inclosing a pipe, the outer pipes having perforations 12, and nutted to the wax-pot by tubular T-couplings 15, 15, which engage the inner pipes and open the latter into the pot, perforated screw-plugs and perforated elastic-plugs for engaging and for closing the ends of the said inner and outer pipes, and delivering the threads in close proximity to the tension-wheels, as set forth.

6. In a wax thread sewing machine,the combination with a wax-pot depending in a steamchamber, of a pipe having communication with said steam-chamber, and a pipe within said pipe forming the thread waxing conduit having communication with the wax-pot, the outer pipev having a steam escape opening and the inner pipe having avent-pipe extending up through said steam escape opening, substantially as described.

7. In a waX thread sewing machine,the combination with a wax-pot depending in a steamchamber, of a pipe crossing within said steamchamber having communication therewith, and a pipe within said pipe forming the thread waxing conduit having communication with the wax-pot, the outer pipe having a valve controlled opening at one end and a steam escape pipe at its other end, the inner pipe having avent-pipe passing up through said escape-pipe, substantially as described.

8. In a wax-thread sewing machine, a waxing and heating appliance consisting of alleating-chamber, a steam-chamber, a wax-pot depending within the steam-chamber, a pipe communicating with the steam-ch amber and a pipe within said pipe communicating with the wax-pot, both pipes crossing within said steam chamber for heating and waxing the thread in the way described.

FRANCIS ARTHUR IOO 

